JANKS JUMPS TO SEVENTH SPOT AMONG ARLINGTON'S ALL-TIME LEADERSWhen the Christine Janks-trained Tazz got up in the final strides to win Friday's eighth race for the ownership group of Robert and Kelly Dobbs and Carson Springs Farm, the victory moved the horsewoman born in Evergreen Park, Illinois, into sole possession of the seventh spot among Arlington's all-time leading trainers.

"The older you get, the more you get in a position to keep moving up," said Janks after being informed of the milestone while speaking over the phone from her Carson Springs Farm in Gainesville, Florida, Saturday morning. "That's because most of the people in front of you are either dead or retired. If you keep going long enough these things happen. I'm not sure it's my ability that allowed this to happen.

"The statistics on these things are all askew these days anyway," said Janks. "The big trainers like Pletcher and Asmussen all have more than 100 horses all around the country now so they build their numbers pretty quickly. In the old days you had to be at the location where your horses were, so 30 or 40 horses were about the most you could have to add to your statistics.

"However, I guess that works both ways," said Janks. "I've been in Florida most of the summer, and Rob (assistant trainer Dobbs who co-owns Tazz with his wife Kelly) has been doing a great job running the barn at Arlington as always. It's been a good partnership.

"I've been down here in Florida trying to nurse this 18-year-old cougar (one of Janks' numerous big cat rescues) back to health," the trainer said. "We've had some ungodly heat down here this summer and she wasn't doing well, so we put her in a rolling cage and moved her inside so she could have air-conditioning. So right now I have a cougar living in my guest house, but she's doing much better since we got her indoors. Yesterday she was rolling on her back with her legs sticking up and then she starting chasing her ball around the cage.

"It's like she's got a second lease on life for awhile," Janks said. "It's very rewarding to see animals get healthy and happy. Rescuing them turns out to be a very reciprocal kind of arrangement."

ARLINGTON MILLION PROSPECT TAJAAWEED GETS SATURDAY BREEZEShadwell Stable's Tajaaweed, third in the Grade III Arlington Handicap July 17 as the final local designed prep for the Grade I Arlington Million Aug. 21, breezed a half-mile in 46.80 Saturday morning in advance of that upcoming showcase race of the Arlington season.

Also contested on Arlington Million Day will be the Grade I Beverly D., the Million's sister race restricted fillies and mares, and the Grade I Secretariat Stakes restricted to 3-year-olds. Together, they comprise the only three Grade I races offered in Illinois on an annual basis.

‘WORKIN,' ‘MISTER MARTI' WORK TOWARD SECRETARIAT STAKESEstrorace LLC's Workin for Hops, who won the 75th renewal of the $100,000 Arlington Classic May 22 and the 96th running of the Grade II American Derby July 17, breezed four furlongs in 48 flat Saturday morning in preparation for the Grade I Secretariat Stakes as part of Arlington's one-day International Festival of Racing three weeks from now on Aug. 21.

Should Workin for Hops win the Secretariat Stakes, restricted to 3-year-olds and run at 10 furlongs over Arlington's world-famous turf course, the entire son of City Zip would become the first horse to sweep Arlington's Mid-America Triple since Robert Schaedle's Honor Glide accomplished the feat in 1997.

Also on the work tab Saturday morning in preparation for the Secretariat Stakes was Lothenbach Stables' Mister Marti Gras, runner-up to Workin for Hops in the American Derby. That altered son of Belong to Me got the half-mile distance in 49.60.

ANNUAL ARLINGTON MILLION LADIES LUNCHEON ANNOUNCED FOR AUG. 19The annual Arlington Million Ladies Luncheon, entitled "Racing for a Cure" on behalf of cancer research, will be held on Aug. 19 from 11:45 a.m. until 5 p.m. in the International Room at Arlington Park.

Monique Koehler has been designated as the winner of this year's Penny Chenery Distinguished Woman in Racing Award, Nancy La Sala has been named 2010 Illinois Horsewoman of the Year for her dedication to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF.org), and Caton Bredar is to be saluted with 2010's Arlington Million Ladies Media Award.

ARLINGTON PARK FIRE 25 YEARS AGO TODAYTwenty-five years ago today the original Arlington Park facility was destroyed by fire.